Channeled buckle



May 24, 1.966 T. A. MATTHEWS l-:TAL 3,252,193

CHANNELED BUCKLE Filed Feb. 18, 1964 wm hw.

NNI.;

INVENTORS cv ,W6 ak @,w MH 4A.

o d5 www @M www@ mw ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,252,193 CHANNELED BUCKLE Thomas A. Matthews and Moses A. Hicks, Richmond,

Va., assignors to B. T. Crump Company, Inc., Richmond, Va., a corporation of Virginia Filed Feb. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 345,728 Claims. (Cl. 24-170) This invention relates to a channeled buckle and more particularly a buckle comprising a rotatable eccentric means for securing a belt or web, said eccentric means `adapted to be locked in Ia closed or a gripping position.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a channeled buckle which is economically made, rigid in construction, and requires positive action on the part of the operator when opening or closing the buckle.

It is another object of the invention to provide a channeled buckle which causes the minimum amount of wear to the secured web or belt for the maximum gripping land retaining forces applied to said web.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel locking arrangement for a cam lever member which cooperates with the sides of the Ichanneled buckle.

Other and fur-ther objects of the present invention will become apparent with the .following detailed description when taken in view of the appended drawings in which:

FIG. l is a top plan view of the buckle and secured l web or belt means;

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view taken along line 3-'3 of FIG. 1; and

shape. Two spaces are cut in the -bot-tom that connects' the two sides 14 an-d 16, thus leaving cross members 18, 20 and 22. Cross member 18 is located at the rearmost end of the buckle and is adapted to secure a looped web or belt member 24, said belt member 24 being rigidly secured by any conventional means such as stitching 26. Cross member 20 has -a forward inclined lip or edge 28, the purpose of which will be described below. An enlarged member 30 having a U-shaped prole and having its connecting end knurled is tted onto the forward cross member 22. Said enlarged portion 30 has a hole 32 which cooperates with hole 34 found within cross member 22, said holes communicating to receive a cylindrical retaining spring 36 which is installed under compression. This particular arrangement of enlarged portion 30, cross member 22, and spring member 36 is easily and quickly assembled and keeps the cost of the buckle at a minimum because planing, milling and shaping are avoided.

A rotatable cam member 38 is rotatably secured to the sides 14 and 16 of the channeled buckle by a pivot pin 40. Said cam member has an eccentrical and knurled portion 42 disposed substantially at right angles The base section 12 comprises two up.

ICC

The cam member 38 can assume an open and closed position as indicated by the dotted and solid lines respectively of FIG. 2. Arcu-ate channels 50 and 52 are cut in the sides 16 and 14 respectively, each said channel 50 and 52 having a small groove or cavity located in the top center thereof. Said cavities are semicircular in cross section, formed by drilling holes 54 and 56 within sides 16 and 14 respectively. A safety lock 58 is .movably mounted on lever member 44. A stationary shaft member 60 has an enlarged conical bottom 62 rigidly tted into the underside of lever 44, and a spring member 64 is disposed in cooperating recesses Within the locking member S8 and lever member 44, said spring 64 urging the locking member 58 in an upward direction. Crosshead 66, which is rigidly secured to shaft member 60, limits the upward movement of locking means 58.

Locking member 58 has a knurled outer surf-ace 68, a center connecting column and two oppositely disposed, radial locking arms 72. The locking arms 72 have inclined edges 74 and a protuberance 76 mounted substantially at the center thereof.

It is the purpose of the locking means to cooperate with the channels 50 and S2 in -a manner to be described below to secure the lever arm 44 in a locked or closed position.

The operation of the device will now be described. Assuming for the moment that the cam member 38 is in the position shown in dotted lines of FIG. 2, a belt or web tongue 46, made of any suitable material such as leather or nylon, is inserted into the channeled base 12 so that said belt 46 extends at least throughout the length of the buckle. Belt 46 can be a separate strap or it can comprise the other end of strap 24, or alternately, the en-d of a doubled back loop which is illustrated in dotted lines and which is integral with belt 24 at substantially the area of the cross member 18.

Once the desired length of belt 46 has been properly adjusted, cam member 38 is rotated 'to a closed position as shown in solid lines in FIG. 2. The portion of belt 46 in the vicinity of the knurled eccentric member 42 is forced through and under the plane dened by cross member 22 and cross member 20. It can be seen from FIG. 2 that the beltthen assumes the position such that its axis is defined as being over enlarged portion 30, under eccentric portion 42 and over cross member 20.

This parti-cular arrangement ailords many advantages. The portion of belt 46which is immediately between the knurled portion of member 30 and the knurled eccentric 42 is clamped or gripped by the squeezing forces exerted by the cooperating knurlings. It can be seen from FIG. 2 that the relatively great length of lever arm 44 aiiords a great mechanicalgadvantage so that a great squeezing force is exerted on the belt` by the knurlings of member 30 and the knurlings of eccentric 42. Moreover, where a pulling or tension force is applied to belt 46, the eccentric portion 42 4further engages said belt and thus tightens or increases the gripping force thereon.

The inclined lip 28 of cross member 20 insures that the top surface of the belt in the vicinity of eccentric 42 is rigidly held in contact therewith. Therefore, the remainder of the knurled area of eccentric 42 which is not in the immediate vicinity of the knurling of member 30 imparts a longitudinal friction force to belt 46 in opposition to any longitudinal tension forces which may be imparted to said belt 46. However, it is preferred that no clamping force exist between the eccentric 42 and lip 28.

Thus, said belt 46 is retained by squeezing or gripping forces as well as frictional forces appliedover a substantial area of the belt. The frictional forces can be analogized, with some degree of accuracy, to the same kind of forces imparted to a rope partially wound around a tree or pole when said rope is under tension.

It is pointed out that belt 46, regardless of the material with which it is made, has a certain amount of resiliency when under great compression. Thus, when the cam member 38 is rotated to a closed position, lever arm 44 is depressed with a force such that the end of lever arm 44 contacts the upper part of belt 46. At the same time, locking means'58 is depressed against the spring bias of spring 64, said locking means 58 thenbeing rotated from the unlocked (dotted) position shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown in solid in FG. l. As the locking arms 72 are rotated into the communicating channels 50 and 52 of the respective channel sides, inclined surfaces 74 may act as a flange or guiding means for the respective locking arms 72. However, the locking means 58 should be fully depressed so that the undersurface of said locking arms cornes in contact with the adjacent top surface of lever arm 44 before said locking arms can be fully rotated into position within' the channels 50 and 52.

When the locking arms are in the position shown in solid in FIG. 1, the downward force on the end of lever `arm 44 is removed along with the downward force on locking means 58. The existing resilience in belt 46 then causes lever arm 44 to move slightly upward, and spring 64 causes the locking means and locking arms 72 to move upward so that the protuberance 76 engages the respective cavity in the respective channels 50 and 52 to thus provide for a positively rigid position for said locking means 58.

It is to be understood that two forces should be applied at two different locations in order to easily unlock the locking means 58. Thus, the operator must use both hands to effect the unlocking action. For example, if a downward force were imparted only by the foreiinger and thumb on the locking means 58, the locking means 58 would travel downward against the bias of spring 64. However, the lever action afforded by the distance between pin 40 and locking means 58 is not great enough to enable said force to cause a downward movement of lever arm 44. Since the normal space between the bottom of locking arm 72 and the top surface of lever 44 is less than the height of the protuberance 76 and its associated cavity, the locking means will not be enabled to rotate from a locked position. However, when an additional force is imparted near the end of lever arm 44, said lever arm will move downward and supply the proper clearance which enables protruberance 46 to completely disengage the respective cavity.

Thus, inadvertent release of the locking means is positively avoided and the operator must consciously use both hands in applying downward forces at two different locations in order to provide the proper clearance for the unlocking action. It is to be understood that if the downward force on locking means 58 is great enough, the additional force on lever 44 need not be applied. However, the design of the buckle is such that unlocking can be accomplished with relative ease -if two hands and said two forces are applied and with comparable difficulty if the force on the lever 44 is omitted.

After locking means 58 is rotated to an unlocked position, lever arm 44 is rotated to the open position as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 2, and the gripping and frictional forces are removed from belt 46 as knurled eccentric 42 is moved out of engagement therewith. Belt 46 then can invention, and the invention should only be limited by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A channeled buckle having a pair of upstanding sides, first and second cross members located at the bottom of said buckle and extending between said sides, said first cross member being positioned at the forward end of said buckle and said second cross member being axially spaced from said first cross member to define an opening therebetween, the rear face of said first cross member being knurled, a cam member rotatably mounted between said sides and movable between open and closed positions, said cam member comprising a lever extending toward the rear of said buckle when said cam member is be withdrawn or its length adjusted to any desired value,

' after which cam member 38 can again be rotated to a in a closed position, said cam member further comprising a cam dependingly connected to the forward end of said lever and having a knurled surface, said cam being rotatable into said opening when said cam member is rotated into its closed position, said buckle receiving an elongated belt passed over said first and second cross members and under said camv member, said cam engaging a portion of said belt and forcing said portion through said opening when said cam member is rotated to its closed position and said cam being so positioned as to clamp the forward end of said portion between said knurled surface and said rear face of said first cross member, said second cross member being positioned to urge said portion into engagement with said cam whereby the latter imparts retaining frictional forces distributed throughout said portion, and said buckle further comprising locking means for releasably locking said cam member in its closed position.

2. A buckle comprising a channeled base having uplstanding sides, cam means rotatably mounted between said sides for rigidly securing a belt, said cam means being adapted to assume open and closed positions, knurled means disposed forward of said cam means and mounted between said sides for cooperating with said cam means to rigidly secure a belt when said cam means is in the closed position, means rearwardly disposed of said cam means for urging the belt into maximum contact with said cam means, and locking means mounted on said cam means for releasably retaining said cam means in a closed position, said cam means comprising an elongated lever arm extending past the rearmost portion of said base, said locking means being mounted on said lever arm, said locking means comprising retaining means for retaining the locking means in a locked postion until downward pressure is exerted on said lever arm near the end thereof, at least one of said sides having an arcuate channel provided with a cavity therein, said retaining means having at least one elongated locking arm adapted to be rotated into said channel, and said arm having a protuberance adapted Ito seat in said cavity.

3. A buckle as defined in claim 2, wherein said retaining means further comprises biasing means for biasing said locking arm away from said lever means, and said biasing means is required to be overcome before said retaining means is moved from a locked to an unlocked position.

4. A buckle as defined in claim 2, wherein said retaining means comprises biasing means for forcing said protuberance into interlocking engagement with said cavity, and said biasing means must be overcome to enable said locking arms to be rotated.

5. A buckle comprising a-channeled base having upstanding sides, cam means rotatably mounted between said sides for rigidly securing abelt, said cam means being adapted to assume open and closed positions, knurled means disposed forward of said cam means and mounted between said sides for cooperating with said cam means to rigidly secure the belt when said cam means is in the closed position, means rearwardly disposed of said cam means for urging the belt into maximum contact with said cam means, and locking means mounted on said earn means for releasably retaining said cam means in a closed position, said knurled means and said urging means being disposed in substantially the same plane, said cam means causing the belt to crosssaid plane in two spaced lines when said cam means is in the closed position, said cam means and said knurled means imparting gripping forces to the belt at substantially the location of said knurled means, said urging means enabling said cam means to impart frictional retaining forces to the belt, said cam means being adapted to impart a greater gripping force in cooperation with said knurled means when the tension forces on the belt are increased, said cam means comprising an elongated lever arm extending past the rearmost portion of said base, said locking means being mounted on said lever arm, said locking means comprising retaining means for retaining the locking means in a locked position until downward pressure is exerted on said lever arm near the end thereof, said sides having arcuate channels and cavities disposed therein, and said retaining means having elongated locking arms adapted to be rotated into said channels, said arms having protuberances adapted to seat in said cavities, and said retaining means further comprising biasing means to bias said locking arms away from said lever means, whereby said biasing means forces the protuberances into interlocking engagement with said cavities and said biasing means must be overcome to enable said locking arms to be rotated.

References Cited by the Examiner WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

DONLEY I. STOCKING, Examiner. 

1. A CHANNELED BUCKLE HAVING A PAIR OF UPSTANDING SIDES, FIRST AND SECOND CROSS MEMBERS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID BUCKLE AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SIDES, SAID FIRST CROSS MEMBER BEING POSITIONED AT THE FORWARD END OF SAID BUCKLE AND SAID SECOND CROSS MEMBER BEING AXIALLY SPACED FROM SAID FIRST CROSS MEMBER TO DEFINE AN OPENING THEREBETWEEN, THE REAR FACE OF SAID FIRST CROSS MEMBER BEING KNURLED, A CAM MEMBER ROTATABLY MOUNTED BETWEEN SAID SIDES AND MOVABLE BETWEEN OPEN AND CLOSED POSITIONS, SAID CAM MEMBER COMPRISING A LEVER EXTENDING TOWARD THE REAR OF SAID BUCKLE WHEN SAID CAM MEMBER IS IN A CLOSED POSITION, SAID CAM MEMBER FURTHER COMPRISING A CAM DEPENDINGLY CONNECTED TO THE FORWARD END OF SAID LEVER AND HAVING A KNURLED SURFACE, SAID CAM BEING ROTATABLE INTO SAID OPENING WHEN SAID CAM MEMBER IS ROTATED INTO ITS CLOSED POSITION, SAID BUCKLE RECEIVING AN ELONGATED BELT PASSED OVER SAID FIRST AND SECOND CROSS MEMBERS AND UNDER SAID CAM MEMBER, SAID CAM ENGAGING A PORTION OF SAID BELT AND FORCING SAID PORTION THROUGH SAID OPENING WHEN SAID CAM MEMBER IS ROTATED TO ITS CLOSED POSITION AND SAID CAM BEING SO POSITIONED AS TO CLAMP THE FORWARD END OF SAID PORTION BETWEEN SAID KNURLED SURFACE AND SAID REAR FACE OF SAID FIRST CROSS MEMBER, SAID SECOND CROSS MEMBER BEING POSITIONED TO URGE SAID PORTION INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID CAM WHEREBY THE LATTER IMPARTS RETAINING FRICTIONAL FORCES DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT SAID PORTION, AND SAID BUCKLE FURTHER COMPRISING LOCKING MEANS FOR RELEASABLY LOCKING SAID CAM MEMBER IN ITS CLOSED POSITION. 